Hi everyone, have been playing Oblivion for a little while now and am really enjoying it. Played Skyrim endlessly for about a year after it's release and completed 4 full playthroughs with 4 different characters and enjoyed every moment of it, I'm sure a few of you will know me from that forum. After this I completed both Fallout 3 (with all DLC) and Fallout New Vegas ultimate edition.

I purchased the Oblivion game of the year edition to keep my enjoyment of open world games going and my question is this: When do you experienced Oblivion players think the best time is to start "the shivering isles" and "Knights of the nine" DLC packs. I'm at level 8 at the moment and doing the mage guild quests, havn't joined the dark brotherhood or the thieves guild yet and am gladiator rank in the arena.

I've read many posts stating that "The shivering isles" is absolutely fantastic and I would like to get the most out of it, I also obviously want to fully enjoy "The knights of the nine" and so any advice would be greatly appreciated from all you seasoned Oblivion players. Many thanks in advance.

First of all, welcome to the Oblivion forums and game. It is, in my opinion, the greatest of all the releases. You are going to love it every bit as much as Skyrim. Another great game.

There are no level barriers unlike in Skyrim, where you have to be a certain level to access content. You should also know that 1 Oblivion level is about two Skyrim levels. So level eight in Oblivion is level sixteen in Skyrim. At that level, your more than ready to go for either.

The only thing you wont get out of content is rewards - they are levelled, so the higher the level the better the reward - that is the only thing that changes with level. Do you roleplay? If you do you should consider your choice carefully. The SI is huge, and incredible. I would recommend diving into it, right now. Maybe getting to the next threshold - level 10 - is the only thing you may want to do. But it is up to you. Have fun!

Welcome to Cyrodiil. I would start KotN right away, you are a perfect level to dive into it. I would wait on Shivering Isles until you're between levels 15-20. I feel that you'll get the most out of it this way (and yes it's amazing). This is just my opinion though.

I always try to enjoy as much of the base game as I can (within reason), but it's entirely up to you whether you should start the DLC content. I definitely recommend getting to the Shivering Isles as soon as possible. So beautiful.

Just in case: when you're going through the Knights story and level up, take the Crusader's gear back to the priory and put the back on the mannequin in the basemant. It will be recharged, and repaired. The gear can level with you, so it won't be underpowered too fast.

wrong.
Skyrim has no level barriers. you can do everything at level 1.
Oblivion daedric quests can only be done once you reach level *number*

http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Daedric_Quests

No, you are wrong.

Skyrim has many, many quests with level requirements. These level requirements range from relatively low (Cursed Tribe, level 9) to much higher (Dungeon Delving, level 20; Boethiah's Calling, level 30). Also, dungeons in Skyrim have fixed level ranges, which function as soft level requirements for certain quests.

I forgot about them.
I've done most at level 1. The only Daedric quests in Skyrim I couldnt do at level 1 were Herma mora's Quest (can start it at level 1), Sanguine's quest and Mephala's quest.